Posts tagged
“Mike Walden”

We are going through what many economists think is the big issue of the 21st century, Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina State University economist, says. That is, "How technology is rapidly changing how we work and who works."

Right now, the economic winds are blowing in favor of urban regions. Yet a rural renaissance could come, based on agribusiness expansion, tourism, an influx of retirees and a revival of large-scale manufacturing needing big tracts of land. So - could tomorrow be different - will the prospects for urban and rural regions come together?

Analysis: The ongoing health care debate includes many elements, among them politics and power. I'm not deriding those elements - they are part of the process. But they sometimes obscure some important fundamental factors that eventually must be considered to have a successful insurance plan.

Life is much different today. While some of us have small vegetable gardens and others have chicken coops - even in the city - most of us rely on buying food in supermarkets or restaurants, purchasing clothes in stores and buying our cars, trucks and electronics at dealers. Most homes are built by professional contractors with large crews. Why do we do this?

The Federal Reserve - for short, the "Fed" - is again front and center in the news. With the economy improving and the stock market soaring, the Fed is expected to increase short-term interest rates several times in 2017. Yet the Fed and its policies have not been held in high regard by many. Here's an analysis from NCSU economist Dr. Mike Walden.

North Carolina will add 100,000 net jobs in 2017 and its aggregate growth will exceed national growth, reversing the post recession trend, says NC State University economist Dr. Mike Walden in his first quarter 2017 economic forecast. Jobless rates will fall to below 4 percent in Durham, Raleigh and Asheville, but remain above 6 percent in Goldsboro and Rocky Mount.

Analysis: Now, just as in 1960 and almost every election since, today's presidential contest focuses on the economy. One of the big economic issues is relatively slow growth. Which candidate offers the best plan? Each of us has about two months to decide which best fits reality! Here's an overview of both plans.

Analysis: The on-going transformation occurring in the economy is bringing more negative side effects to our state than to the nation. Stated another, North Carolina can be viewed as "ground zero" for the seismic shifts that are happening in the economy.

Analysis: There are two questions to address about the growth slump. The first is, what's causing it? The second is, what - if anything - can we do about it? As you will see, there's an abundance of both economic diagnoses and solutions.

International trade is a big hot spot in the current U.S. presidential campaign for both parties. In a textbook world, international trade improves the economies of both countries and people. But, as even teachers know, the real world doesn't always follow the textbook. International trade has created winners and losers. The question is, can a system be created where everyone wins?

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates in the near future and is in economic headlines almost daily. Dr. Michael Walden, economics professor at NCSU, takes a look at the Fed. Should it be modified or ended?

Analysis: Disruption is no longer a narrow field that can be handled by a new division or department of a company. It is happening wherever technology can be applied. Companies need all hands on board -- with all divisions working together to find ways to reinvent themselves and defend themselves from the onslaught of new competition. This is a company-wide effort which requires bold new thinking, writes technology author and tech entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa.

The NCSU IIndex of North Carolina leading economic indicators, (the "Index"), a forecast of the economy's direction four to six months ahead, declined by 0.8% in September. This continued a downward trend in the Index, which has dropped in eight of the past twelve months. A similar national decline may be partly responsible.

Taxes are always part of discussions about government and public policy, and taxes were clearly a hot topic in the recent session of the North Carolina General Assembly. Debates occurred about taxing services, lowering income tax rates, implementing incentives for business and energy expenditures, and dividing public revenues between urban and rural counties. Legislation was passed for some of these items, but economist Mike Walden says there will be more discussion and debate in future sessions.

The North Carolina State Index, a forecast of the economy's direction four to six months ahead, declined by a modest 0.4% in August, continuing a downward trend that began in mid-2014. However, the reduction in the Index should be characterized as an "easing" rather than a "tumble", suggesting no near term threat of an recession.

Much of the economic news has been rather gloomy recently. There have been wild swings in the stock market, with multi-hundred point losses on some days. The Chinese economy may be in free-fall, while Europe is dealing with thousands of refugees from the war-torn Middle East.
Canada is officially in a recession. And although jobs are being created, more than 10 percent of individuals in the labor force either don't have a job, have given up looking for a job or are working part-time because they can't find full-time work. Does this mean another recession?

Some troubling news about North Carolina's economy made the headlines recently. Numbers for an economic concept called gross domestic product", or GDP, were released for 2014. While North Carolina's GDP increased in 2014, it rose much less than in the nation. The comparison was a 1.4 percent gain for the state versus a 2.2 percent improvement for the nation. Does this mean it's time to worry about the state's economic rebound?

The North Carolina economy rebounded in April, ending a recent skid, according to the North Carolina State University Index of Leading Economic Indicators compiled by NCSU economist Dr. Michael Walden.